JAMMU — The CBI has arrested three officials of Jammu and Kashmir’s Public Works Department for allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs 1.5 lakh from a building contractor at Reasi in Udhampur, officials said on Friday. The agency took superintending engineer Hilal Ahmad Sheikh, technical officer PK Koul and junior engineer Sanjay Koul, all of […]
SRINAGAR — With India reporting two cases of Omicron, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Friday warned of higher rates of reinfections due to the new variant in persons who have recovered from Covid-19 infection. “The risk of reinfection from the Omicron is higher than for any previous variants,” said DAK President and Influenza expert Dr […]
NEW DELHI — Top Indian genome scientists have recommended a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines for those above 40 years with preference to high-risk and high-exposure population. The recommendation was made in the weekly bulletin of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Sequencing Consortium (INSACOG), a network of national testing labs set up by the government to […]
NEW YORK — About one in 100 patients hospitalised with Covid-19 are likely to develop central nervous system complications, including strokes, according to a study. The researchers from the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, US analysed nearly 40,000 cases of hospitalised Covid-19 positive patients from seven US and four western European university hospitals. Symptoms led […]
WASHINGTON — Twitter announced on Friday that it has removed 3,465 accounts operating as “state-backed information operations” that it linked to six countries, namely China, Mexico, Russia, Tanzania, Uganda and Venezuela. Most of the erased profiles – 2,048 – “amplified Chinese Communist Party narratives” related to the treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang province, the social […]
NEW DELHI — Uttar Pradesh told the Supreme Court that polluted air was mostly coming from Pakistan, during the hearing on pollution in Delhi and nearby cities. This provoked a question from Chief Justice of India NV Ramana that UP’s lawyers could not answer. “Uttar Pradesh is downwind. Air is mostly coming from Pakistan. Whatever […]
SRINAGAR — Kashmir Valley and Ladakh continued to reel under freezing temperatures with Srinagar recording the second night on Friday. A meteorological department official here told GNS that Srinagar recorded minus 2.4°C against previous night’s minus 1.8°C. It was second coldest night after December 1 when mercury fell to 2.5°C, lowest temperature recorded this season. […]
NEW DELHI — India on Thursday described the UN Human Rights Office’s criticism of the arrest of rights activist Khurram Parvez and recent killings in Kashmir as “baseless and unfounded allegations” against the country’s security forces. The office of the UN high commissioner for human rights (OHCHR) on Wednesday expressed deep concern at the arrest […]
WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund warned of “economic collapse” in some low-income countries unless creditors in the world’s richest nations suspend debt-service obligations and help renegotiate new terms. About 60% of the world’s poorest countries are at high risk or are already in debt distress, double the share in 2015, IMF Managing Director Kristalina […]
SRINAGAR — Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has revealed that 346 persons were arrested in Jammu and Kashmir under stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2020. J&K has reported second highest number of arrests made under UAPA in 2020 across India, Uttar Pradesh reported highest number of 361 arrests as per the data shared […]